The scoop: No, the zebras and lions of Madagascar don’t really live here. But there are 130 species ranging from red pandas to penguins. A pair of snow leopard cubs—the first ever to be born at the zoo—celebrated their first birthday in June.

What to do: Time your entrance or exit to the half hour, when the mechanical bronze animals rotate atop the musical Delacorte Clock just outside the zoo’s main gate. The 44 songs that play throughout the day change seasonally.

The scoop: “Here’s flowers for you,” wrote Shakespeare in The Winter’s Tale, and in 1913, the commissioner of Central Park returned the sentiment, dedicating this traditional English garden to the Bard of Avon.

What to do: Many of the plants mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays make an appearance here. Look for sweet marjoram to cowslip to roses (by any other name).

Fun fact: Central Park’s architects, Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted, planted all but a few of the park’s trees. Even the hills and streams were built from scratch.

This piece, written by Chris Bonanos, appeared in the June/July 2014 issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine.

Comments

Nicola Hilditch

United Kingdom

July 23, 2014, 5:51 pm

There is so much to do in central park at times it’s hard to take it all in and do it all. Its such a great place to such walk around and take in though, it’s great when you can find a moments peace and serenity in the middle of one of the worlds biggest cities!